


Playing the Game

by bakedgoldfish



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-04-04
Updated: 2008-04-04
Packaged: 2019-05-15 06:04:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14784893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bakedgoldfish/pseuds/bakedgoldfish
Summary: Leo, Toby, and five rules. First campaign fic, written for the Leo Ficathon.





	Playing the Game

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

[September 18, 1997]

First rule of the game: you gotta surprise the hell out of them so they don't feel bullied when you get them to say yes.

It was the first thing Leo had learned working under Nicholas McCabe, a senator out of Illinois back when Leo had first gotten started in politics. If the subject is baffled, if the subject is awed, then the subject is malleable - and, as a side benefit, the subject becomes funny to watch. It was something he'd learned again when he'd moved into the private sector, in board rooms and back rooms and all rooms in between, and it was something that he figured would work just as well now that he was trying to get his best friend elected President.

Hell, it had worked on his best friend. Hopefully, it'd work on a complete stranger.

This is what brought him to the hallway of Andi Wyatt's husband, currently a professor at UMCP, lecturing a hundred underclassmen every couple days. Andi had told him in passing over lunch a week or so back that Toby was sick of it, and he'd cottoned onto a way to both end that boredom and fill out his communications staff. The door opened, and Leo smiled. "Heya. Leo McGarry."

Toby blinked, and Leo grinned wider; he was baffled, and he was awed. A little shorter than Leo had expected, and the face in the picture Leo had seen a couple days ago wore a mustache, but no beard. "Yeah."

"You Toby Ziegler?"

"Yeah."

Leo stuck his hand out and suspected Toby took it more out of habit than anything else. "You worked on Valerio's campaign in the Maryland 5th a few years back, right?"

"Yeah."

"Trying to unseat Wyatt." Leo chuckled at Toby's deer-in-the-headlights look, and stuck his hands in his pockets. "Boy, that was a sight to see. I never would've thought Maryland would go for someone that liberal, but you almost had it. Not quite, though. I hear you got married to Congressman Wyatt after your guy lost to her."

"Yeah."

Toby looked as though he were contemplating getting annoyed, so Leo decided to get to the heart of the matter. Fine line between baffled and peeved. He had seen Toby's resume, all writing and communications for twenty years, with teaching stints bridging the gap between losing campaigns. "You're a speechwriter, right?"

"Yeah."

"You ever say anything other than 'yeah?'"

". . . Sometimes." He waved Leo into the apartment.

Leo nodded, followed him in, and went in for the kill: "I need you to come work for me."

"Is there a congressional race the DNC needs a - wait. You're Leo McGarry."

"This has been true for a few decades, yes," Leo said. He took a seat on an overstuffed sofa and stared placidly at Toby until he sat down on the love seat opposite him.

"You've taken, I don't know, some sort of messenger job? You ride around town, delivering packages?"

Leo shrugged. "It's a pay cut, but it fits my schedule better, and the dental plan's amazing."

"Really."

"Hey, it's okay that I left my bike on the curb, right?"

"Mr. McGarry, I, I'm not sure why you came by, but-"

"I'm running a guy for President," Leo said. "Bartlet."

Toby frowned and looked at something on the far wall. "Governor Bartlet, New Hampshire?"

"That's the one."

"He's a good guy," Toby said. "The comprehensive healthcare for minor's initiative he was trying to push through-"

"Yeah," Leo said. "So what do you think?"

"He'll never win," Toby said.

Leo broke out into a grin again. "Sure he will."

Toby gave him a cynical, sad half grin and said, "No, he's - he's like Valerio all over again, except the guys he'd be running against are better funded than Andi was, twice as slick as her, and half as ethical."

Leo nodded. Final exam: "Who do you see running?"

With a shrug, Toby leaned back and ran a hand over his head. "Hoynes, for sure."

Leo frowned; Josh Lyman worked for Hoynes, and if he were serious about running, Leo would have to steal that kid away. "This year? I mean, he's saber-rattling, but he did that four years ago. Don't think he's too young?"

"Doesn't wanna risk doing something stupid in the next eight years, blowing his capital," Toby said. "Probably gonna announce by next week. Wiley."

"Wiley," Leo said. If this was his guy, Tovell and Hobson were next. "Who else?"

"Hobson, maybe Tovell." He shook his head. "They're all strong candidates, and this looks like it could be Hoynes' year."

Leo smirked and looked him straight in the eye; Toby had been so baffled that he'd forgotten to be annoyed, and now he was just interested. "How do you like 'em?"

Toby took too long to say, "I like 'em fine," and he couldn't quite meet Leo's eyes when he said it.

"Come work for me and the Governor."

"He's never gonna win," Toby said again.

"But it'd be a helluva fight."

Toby cocked his head to the side, the hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Yeah."

[October 28, 1997]

Second rule of the game: while you're at it, go ahead and surprise everyone else, too.

Toby caught up with him early the morning after the Nashua VFW event; the Governor was already out and doing a meet and greet in a local diner, and would be there until lunch. With Jerry, Mack, Steve and the other guy gone, there were even fewer people to make sure he didn't do anything dumb, but Abbey was there, so Leo wasn't too worried.

"Hey."

"Good morning, Toby," Leo said, walking with his valise to his office. "You're certainly here bright and early."

"And if you think I didn't have to mainline caffeine to do that - I've been meaning to talk to you."

Leo frowned and dropped his case by the desk. "Since when?"

"Since last night when you up and fired everybody," Toby said. "You're sure you want me?"

"The Governor needs to hear fresh voices," he said. "You're fresh."

"I usually hear that right before I get tossed out on my ass."

"I can believe that," Leo said. "I mean it in the good way."

"Which is new for me."

"I'm sure it is. Listen, you know Josh Lyman?"

"Works for Hoynes, right?"

"Worked," Leo said. "He's bringing in this guy from New York - some kid named Seaborn."

"You trust him?"

"I trust whoever Josh trusts." Margaret was working the diner with the Bartlets, so Leo pulled the day's agenda up on his computer. "Seaborn's gonna answer to you."

"And I'm gonna-"

"You're gonna be taking Jerry's position," he said. "We kind of need a communications department."

Toby shook his head. "Leo, I've never headed a department. I'm a speechwriter."

"You worked on other campaigns, you just write the speeches then?"

"Pretty much," Toby said.

Leo nodded. "Okay. When the other guys lost, was it because you wrote bad speeches?"

He laughed almost cynically. "No. They lost because they didn't say it right."

"So here's what you do," Leo said, leaning back in his chair as he looked up at Toby. "You take over communications, and you get him to say it right. Sound fair?"

Toby seemed to mull over this for a moment. "I'll need a press guy."

"I've got a few names. In a couple of weeks, I'll need you to go get someone for me."

"I've only got one name," Toby said. "CJ Cregg."

Leo blinked; he hadn't expected to be first-ruled himself. "Yeah, well - yeah."

"Really?"

"That's who I'll need you to go get in a couple weeks."

"Seriously?" Toby peered at him. "Stop playing."

"Do you think I have it in my person to play at this moment?"

"Last week, you told me you played on a farm team straight out of high school," Toby said. "I think you have it in you to bullshit someone if you think you'll get a good laugh out of it."

"Point, but I ain't laughing. We don't have the money for her yet, that's the only reason I need you to wait."

"But you want . . . CJ Cregg."

"Don't you?" Leo asked.

"Well, yeah."

He shrugged. "I want whoever you want."

For a second, Toby looked humbled by Leo's trust. And then: "Wait. You wanted her before you knew I wanted her."

Leo couldn't help that that was true, but he wasn't going to play it like that. "Maybe."

"What?"

"I said maybe."

"You couldn't have known I wanted her," Toby said.

"I have my ways," Leo said.

"Like what?"

"Generally, they involve Margaret."

Toby peered at him suspiciously. "Are you messing with me?"

Keeping his voice level, Leo asked, "Do you think I am?"

"I-" Toby twitched. "Stop that."

Leo's eyes went wide with innocence. "All I'm saying is we'll need her the moment we can afford her. That's it."

Toby got his head back in the game, though he still looked vaguely disturbed, and Leo couldn't help but enjoy the hell out of that. "How much will I be offering her?"

Leo glanced at the budget he'd pulled up. "$600 a week."

"I think she makes a little more than that," he said quietly.

"I think I made more than that on the paper route I had when I was twelve," Leo said, "but that's what you're gonna offer her."

Toby nodded and scratched the back of his neck. "How'd the governor take you firing everyone?"

When Leo had left Jed's door last night, he was still ornery. "He's fine."

"He seemed a little mad," Toby said. "You sure?"

Leo shrugged. "He was a little surprised, but he got over it."

Toby paused, frowning at him. "You like surprising people, don't you?"

"Every man needs a hobby," he said.

"I'm gonna need to be able to go over anyone and everyone to get to you," Toby said. "I don't want to have to deal with a chain of command."

"Sure," Leo said. "That it?"

Toby paused again. "Think we can get some pies in here?"

"Pies?"

"Pastry shells often filled with fruit, and then baked?"

Leo stared at him for a moment. "I mean, if you think we can work that into our budget-"

Toby waved him off. "I'll just go get one myself, how about that?"

"That works, too." Toby turned to leave, and Leo said, "Hey, Toby? I'm serious about wanting who you want."

Toby got that look on his face that Leo had come to recognize as meaning, 'I'm too embarrassed to say thank you.' He shuffled a bit in the doorway, nodded, and went off.

[March 16, 1998]

The third rule: when the surprise is a good one, never, ever take too long to gloat, especially if the surprise isn't all that surprising. Figure out how to use it to your benefit, and move on.

The staff was slowly crawling in, after a night of celebration and release, and Leo pulled Toby aside. "I'm gonna be dealing with donors all day today, so I'm gonna need for you to team up with Josh, keep everyone's eyes on the ball today for me."

"Sure," Toby said. "Did Hoynes give an answer last night?"

Leo could tell that Toby knew the answer to that question already. "I need to talk to the Governor about his choices."

Toby stared at him, thunderstruck. "He didn't answer, did he?" he asked softly.

"We'll talk about this later, okay?"

"He didn't - my God, Leo, this isn't high school," he said, quietly angry. "This isn't some kind of popularity contest. You get asked to serve, you serve."

Leo just looked at him and started smiling.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"You're messing with me again, aren't you?"

"I'm just remembering why I didn't fire you." He handed Toby the tentative schedule for the day. "He's gonna say yes, he just needs a couple days to lick his wounds first. Go help Josh."

Toby took the sheet, and as Leo walked away, he could feel Toby's eyes on him.

[October 31, 1998]

Rule four: when the surprise is neither good nor, in retrospect, a surprise, the reaction is far more important than the action.

Standing in front of his staff the next morning, briefing them on what to expect over the next four days, he didn't quite remember what all had happened the night before. The post-debate coverage hadn't made mention of Bartlet's disappearance two hours before the debate, and he'd managed to do a stellar job, not knowing what Leo was going to be telling him later tonight. The rest of the staff were still jubilant this morning, with only a couple of exceptions.

Josh was standing near the back, his face closed off but his stance tense and almost betraying the fact that he'd spent at least a half hour last night trying to get Leo cleaned up enough to make it down to the debate. What Leo remembered was neither pity nor anger, and he was grateful that Noah raised such a good kid.

Toby was standing near the back as well, on the opposite side of the room, a curious look on his face. Leo dismissed everyone, but both Toby and Josh hung back. Josh was looking at Toby like a hungry guard dog on the prowl, and Leo had to shake his head a tiny bit, had to tell Josh to lay off. Silently, Josh nodded and stepped back, out of the room, with the rest of the staff. Toby lingered as Leo sat at his desk.

"You look like crap," Toby said, almost lightly. Leo had learned to read Toby's mood fairly well over the past year, mostly by watching the way he treated Sam (and the way Sam did or did not let it get to him).

"Twenty-four hour bug," Leo said, feeling sick even as he told the lie. "You guys handled the debate fine without me."

Toby took a step back. "You're not contagious, are you?"

Leo couldn't help but smile wanly. "No. It's fine."

Toby eyed him, curious. "In Kansas City," he began, "there was this nasty cold going around. I remember it, 'cause I didn't leave the hotel the whole three days we were there. I ended up e-mailing my work to Sam. E-mailing, and I was two doors down the hall. I remember you caught it."

"It didn't hit me that hard," Leo said, trying to head Toby off at the pass. "Also, you're a big baby."

"That, I will not deny," Toby said with a flicker of a smile. "But it hit you as hard as it hit anyone else, and you were out there anyway, chatting up potential donors, pushing the schedule . . . passing your germs around. You looked ready to pass out by the end of it."

"Everyone looked-"

"Yeah, I know, but my point is you didn't take any time off," Toby said. He paused, brows furrowed as he chewed on the inside of his cheek. "Last night - are you sure you're okay?"

Leo turned his attention to the work on his desk, unable to lie again. "I am now."

Toby stood there for a long moment, regarding Leo quietly. "I'm not asking to be in the know. I get that Josh is, and when I look at him, I don't want that."

"So what do you want?" Leo snapped, glaring at him.

Toby nervously rubbed his forehead and quietly said, "For some unfathomable reason, I just want to know if you're okay."

The fire left Leo's heart, and he glanced back down at his desk for a second. He could tell from the tone of his voice that Toby had at least halfway figured things out, and the fact that this was all Toby was asking was enough for Leo. "I'll be fine," he said, his voice nearly silent as he said it.

Toby nodded and left, and Leo knew they wouldn't ever actually talk like this again.

[November 4, 1998]

The fifth rule Leo had learned: repeat rules one through four as needed.

The day after the election, the staff had all rolled into the office as excited and dizzy as they had been after they'd won the nomination. Leo would let most of them have a few hours of fun before dragging them back to the reality of their jobs. He'd found Josh wandering aimlessly earlier, his tie backwards and uneven around his neck, and thrown a DCoS position at him too fast for Josh to actually refuse.

He found Toby talking to someone - Lenny? Lewis? Larry? - by the water cooler, and he grabbed him by the elbow and pulled him towards his office. "So, listen. The President-Elect likes you, I like you, and you like what you're doing."

"Actually, I kind of hate-"

"Yeah, no, you hate people as a rule, but you like what you're doing," Leo said, closing the door behind them. "But you just won your first election ever, and you have no idea how to deal with that - that's fine. That's what I'm here for."

Toby snorted, cynical. "You sure about that?"

"I am. Here's what you're gonna do. I'm gonna say, hey, Toby, we're gonna need a communications director in the White House, just like we did on the campaign, and you're gonna say, you know Leo? I can do that for you."

Toby stared blankly at him. "That's what I'm gonna say?"

"It is. I understand you're not used to this whole winning thing, so I'll let you off the hook if you don't say it immediately. But you're gonna say it, and then you're gonna ask Sam to stay on as your deputy. You okay with that?"

"No, that's great, I always felt I needed a career counselor," Toby said. "Full grown man, been out of high school for four decades - but it's nice to know I have a job coach. Why on earth should I say yes to this?"

Leo smiled and remembered exactly what Toby had told him seven and a half months ago. "Because this isn't high school, and when you're asked to serve, you serve."

Toby stood there for a long while. Finally, he rolled his eyes, said, "I was gonna apply for the position anyway, Leo! You didn't need to strongarm me!"

The smile quickly vanished. "Seriously?"

"Yes!"

"Because you seemed pretty tired at the end-"

"That's 'cause I hadn't slept in a year, and also 'cause I hate people," he said, glaring. "On the other hand, I enjoy being gainfully employed by a couple of guys I can actually respect. I answer to you directly, not Josh, and I reserve every right to come to you with any changes to any speech or address that I think might be necessary."

Leo scowled. "I was gonna give that to you anyway."

"Well, in that case, I have a few other demands, possibly involving season tickets and the Yankees-"

Leo waved him off, annoyed that Toby had tried to first-rule him even as he'd tried to first-rule Toby, but respecting him all the more for it. "Get out of my office, would you?"

Toby raised his hands and eyebrows in defeat, and wandered back outside. Leo sat down, rubbed his eyes, leaned back, and grinned.

-end-


End file.
